Backdrop #1

by Erica Harney

“I incorporate scrap materials from my “day job,” painting murals and large-scale backdrops and scenery (for television, theatre, museums, cruise ships, parades, retail displays etc.) to make colorful, inventive, post-human paintings and collages. Working in the entertainment and production industries keeps me acutely aware of the colossal amount of waste they create, and I often salvage materials such as scrap lumber, muslin, and paint that would ultimately end up in dumpsters. This piece was crafted while I was an artist-in-residence at ArtScape Toronto Point in Canada, and was originally intended as a backdrop for a performance by upright bassist Slaveiko Savov.”